SOUTHERN Water Services has been fined £1,000 by magistrates after sewage overflowed from a sewer and into the River Len, near Bearsted.

The company was also ordered to pay £680 costs by Maidstone magistrates after admitting polluting controlled waters with sewage effluent on or about November 6 last year.

During the hearing the Environment Agency, which brought the prosecution, claimed the company had not responded as promptly as it could have done to dealing with the incident.

But passing sentence, bench chairman Dr Lorna Little said: "We do consider that this event is at the lower end of the scale and that Southern Water cleared up the blockage as soon as was reasonably practicable."